Updated 3:31 pm, Monday, February 17, 2014

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Billy Crystal as Buddy Young Jr. during a 'Saturday Night News' skit on April 6, 1985. The character, which Crystal performed several times on Saturday Night Live, is the main character in the movie "Mr. Saturday Night," which will be screened at the Avon Theatre at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, as part of the FTMA Talk Back Series at the Stamford, Conn. theater. (Photo by: RM Lewis Jr./NBC/NBCU Photo Bank) less

Billy Crystal as Buddy Young Jr. during a 'Saturday Night News' skit on April 6, 1985. The character, which Crystal performed several times on Saturday Night Live, is the main character in the movie "Mr. ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Billy Crystal speaks at "12-12-12" a concert benefiting The Robin Hood Relief Fund to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 12, 2012 in New York City. In 1992, he made his directorial debut with the film, "Mr. Saturday Night," in which he also played the title role. It will be shown at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, Conn., at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014. For more information, visit www.avontheatre.org. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Clear Channel) less

Billy Crystal speaks at "12-12-12" a concert benefiting The Robin Hood Relief Fund to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 12, 2012 in New York City. In 1992, he made his ... more

By the time Justin Liberman was visiting the Catskills with his family, the "Borscht Belt" comics, who had found success in such places as Brown's Hotel and Kutsher's Resort, had moved on to other venues and opportunities. Still, spirits lingered.

"I remember going up there and there was always this haze of years before, a remembrance of yesterday and of who had come before," he said.

Known for their quick one-liners and self-deprecating humor, the stand-up comics came to define a style of Jewish comedy -- the kind that gave rise to Billy Crystal's character Buddy Young Jr., the title character in the 1992 movie "Mr. Saturday Night."

"Buddy Young is really an amalgamation of people," said Liberman of Crystal's character, who personifies this kind of changing of the guard -- this erosion of talent from these places, as well as the audiences that came to see them.

"This was really a character-driven film," Liberman said of the work, which also stars David Paymer as Young's long-suffering brother and manager. For his work, Paymer earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

"This was (Crystal) paying tribute ... to all the people who started before him," Liberman said of the film, which also marked Crystal's debut as a director.

The screening of the film, which takes place on the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 19, is part of the new Talk Back Series, hosted by Stamford's Avon Theatre and Sacred Heart University's new Film and Television Masters program, which is a one-year conservatory that directs students to learn about all the components of filmmaking from screenwriting to producing.

Liberman, as well Damon Maulucci, helped to launch the free series this year with the Avon. They are co-coordinators of the Sacred Heart masters' program, as well as instructors.

"We hoped to curate a program of films that were either overlooked, interesting or worth revisiting and analyzing," Liberman said.

For February, they wanted to look at the "dark side of comedy." "Mr. Saturday Night" is about comedy, but it also touches upon the less-than-glamorous toll such a life takes on the performer and the people around him. Later in the month, the series will look into "Lenny," a movie about the acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce.

Liberman said he hopes the movies get people talking about the film and ideas it spurred, which is the entire point of the collaborative series. At the end of the each screening, there will be a question-and-answer session.

"Movies have always been my thing," said Liberman, 33, who grew up in Connecticut. "At 12 years old, I knew I wanted to be a film director."

Liberman has directed several films, some in Los Angeles, as well as "Tobacco Burn," which was shot in South Windsor, and "Broken Badge," a short film that will be released this year. He was a directing fellow at Columbia University's School of Arts. Meanwhile, Maulucci directed a feature film, "Detonator," which premiered at the CineQuest film festival last year.

Liberman said he hopes the audience comes out for the series and takes part in the discussion of the film.

"I really hope people come together to share in the dialogue and talk about the movie," he said. "We'll have an opportunity to reflect. I am really going to encourage he audience to participate. I'm really looking forward to the discussion."